So, despite the fact that I was under the impression that I was heading to the Muslim Cameroonian desert with no access to internet, here I am. I have discovered that a very small percentage of my assumptions about things that happen here are actually true.
So, Sanu from Ngaoundere! "Sanu" is Fulfude for hello as a fair amount of people here speak Fulfude before they speak French. Luckily for me, all but one of my family members is fluent in French but I still took a few hours of Fulfude so I could street-communicate, which basically means that I can say Hello, how are you, my name is, whats yours? I'm from this country and this city, thank you, byeeee! Say-yesso! Oh, and now instead of the everpresent "la blanche, la blanche!", I am now a "Nasara".
The culture and landscape here are extremely different than the other parts of the country I have visited. We arrived after a thirteen hour train ride, and I was lucky enough to be placed in the "boys' cabin" spending the night in a lurching train car with Ben, Clark, and Bobo. Zach, was placed with 3 girls and we can only imagine that somehow they assumed that Courtney was a boys name as TOUT LE MONDE (everyoneeeee) in this country cannot say my name. Who would have that that Courtney in Cameroon translates to Goutlay, Cour-ten-ay, Blanchney, and my most recent appointed title courtesory of host maman #3, Zalinga. She decided that Courtney was too hard and she told me within the first ten minutes of meeting this 69 year old firecracker: "C'est trop dificile pour moi. Je vais vous donner un deuxieme baptesme avec le nom Zalinga... c'est d'accord?" (Gout-en-ay, that's too hard for me. I'm giving you a second baptism and calling you Zalinga, okay?) Sounds good to me. Besides maman, I live with Mao (29), Wao (40s), and Faysal (13) in a beautiful, Indian inspired sanctuary forty five minutes from town. Oh and of course, Raul, the Fulfude and French speaking bird/parrot. Only in Cameroon. Our house is modest, but because my family is Muslim, all the floors are covered in multi-colored rugs and huge windows give the open areas natuaral light and a breeze. We're surrounded by mango, avacado, mandarin, and plantain trees among little shrubs, flowers and stone pathways. It's all pretty unreal. Faysal gave me a little tour around our garden and plants which also holds the body of my host grandfather, I discovered slightly abrubtly :
Faysal (in French): there are the avacado trees, and the mango trees, the hibiscus flowers, and there's the body, and the mandarin trees...
Me: The body?
Faysal: Oui, the body. Mon grand-pere. And the plantains...
Me: oh of coarse (?) okay. (carefully stepping back from those stones).
Like I said, rule number one of Cameroon, expect nothing and everything simultaneously.
I'll end this long post saying that I love Cameroon more and more everyday and honestly feel like I learn more with each random experience. My friend here describes things here as a "2-way zoo" (Flanigan, 2010), which feels pretty accurate as we are constantly looking around wide eyed, taking mental images and pictures of our aweome and wild lives as many Cameroonians tend to stare and point yelling nasara and blanche as we pass. It's not something I can accurately explain besides the fact that I feel my two worlds are often colliding and I'm constantly trying to understand and bridge differences. I suppose it's what this is all about. That, and realizing that there are even birds who speak more languages than me.
Until next time, say-yesso,
Zalinga
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
To the North
Heyo,
Heading to Ngaoundere tonight by train. This city is located in the north and is known for its large Muslim population. They speak Fulfude, have large families with young mothers (I was told I could have a sixteen year old host mom), and the city is located on top of a giant plateau. After my 12 or so days there most of the group is heading even farther north for Cameroon's version of a safari in Waza National Park. All in all, I think this leg of the trip is going to be extremely different and there's a good chance I won't have the best internet so sorry in advance if I don't respond to emails, messages, etc. Once I get back, I'll be in Yaounde for a day and then I'm heading back to Kribi with two other students for our month of independent research. Time is elusive.
I'll leave you with a funny story.
Yesterday, I bought a soccer ball for Wheat Freet and one communal soccer ball for the neighbors. Shout out to Camille for the awesome idea. I come walking down our road, all the kids start freaking out, running, yelling, etc. and we immediately start playing. About two whole minutes into the game the soccer ball comes zooming straight at my face and I was close to sure my nose might be broken. I took a break, pretended I wanted to clap with the babies as I wiped the shock tears from my eyes and checked for blood. All good. Moral is, I'm fine and the kids are happy. Now I'm off to the train station for a completely different place and culture.
Adios for now.
Heading to Ngaoundere tonight by train. This city is located in the north and is known for its large Muslim population. They speak Fulfude, have large families with young mothers (I was told I could have a sixteen year old host mom), and the city is located on top of a giant plateau. After my 12 or so days there most of the group is heading even farther north for Cameroon's version of a safari in Waza National Park. All in all, I think this leg of the trip is going to be extremely different and there's a good chance I won't have the best internet so sorry in advance if I don't respond to emails, messages, etc. Once I get back, I'll be in Yaounde for a day and then I'm heading back to Kribi with two other students for our month of independent research. Time is elusive.
I'll leave you with a funny story.
Yesterday, I bought a soccer ball for Wheat Freet and one communal soccer ball for the neighbors. Shout out to Camille for the awesome idea. I come walking down our road, all the kids start freaking out, running, yelling, etc. and we immediately start playing. About two whole minutes into the game the soccer ball comes zooming straight at my face and I was close to sure my nose might be broken. I took a break, pretended I wanted to clap with the babies as I wiped the shock tears from my eyes and checked for blood. All good. Moral is, I'm fine and the kids are happy. Now I'm off to the train station for a completely different place and culture.
Adios for now.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Just Call Me the Chief's Wife
Hello everyone,
Happy almost St. Patrick's Day and whatever else exciting is going on in the world. I'm feeling a little disconnected because I just spent a wonderfulllll weekend at the beach, Kribi, Cameroon to be exact. We left on Saturday morning and got to our hotel early in the afternoon, and then almost immediately jumped into the ocean. I was shocked by its warmth and was reminded how much I love to swim in large bodies of water. It was also interesting because the last ocean I was in was off the coast of Alaksa (shout out chilkittens) which probably couldn't be more different then what I experienced this past weekend. We swam, walked on the beach, relaxed at a waterfall that emptied straight into the ocean, and ate the most delicious Cameroonian meals breakfast, lunch and dinner. I am not exaggerating in saying that I ate the best shrimp of my life on Saturday night, probably caught just that morning. And despite the fact that it was only two days of a "spring break", it was exactly what we all needed. I'm also happy to report that I'm 99% positive that I'm going to be spending the month of April there doing my last and final reserch project, studying prostitution, sex trafficking and their relationship with tourism in Cameroon with an organization, WOPA (Women's Promotion and Assistance Association http://www.wopassociation.org/index.html). I met with the director, Veronique, and in talking with her I feel confident that my ISP (independent study project) now has a direction.
While in Kribi, we also got to meet with some indigenous camps of pygmies, some of the earliest inhabitants of Cameroon. It was really interesting to talk (through the aid of a translator) with these families as they still hunt and gather their food and they're one of the only ethnic groups who have a more equal relationship between genders. At the second camp we visited, I asked a question about widowhood rites and whether or not they re-marry and the Chief who is currently wife-less said he was in the process of looking for a wife and he would like me to stay and be his wife. Hahahaha. I almost died, all the women in the family started jumping up and down and pointing at me laughing and all my friends here have claimed spots as bridesmaids in our wedding. Catherine, you can come and be my maid of honor, I'm sure the rugby player will be thrilled. So, sorry friends and family, looks like I'll be the staying in Cameroon.
Hope you're all doing well, miss everyone immensely but am having the time of my life.
A Bientot,
Courtney
Happy almost St. Patrick's Day and whatever else exciting is going on in the world. I'm feeling a little disconnected because I just spent a wonderfulllll weekend at the beach, Kribi, Cameroon to be exact. We left on Saturday morning and got to our hotel early in the afternoon, and then almost immediately jumped into the ocean. I was shocked by its warmth and was reminded how much I love to swim in large bodies of water. It was also interesting because the last ocean I was in was off the coast of Alaksa (shout out chilkittens) which probably couldn't be more different then what I experienced this past weekend. We swam, walked on the beach, relaxed at a waterfall that emptied straight into the ocean, and ate the most delicious Cameroonian meals breakfast, lunch and dinner. I am not exaggerating in saying that I ate the best shrimp of my life on Saturday night, probably caught just that morning. And despite the fact that it was only two days of a "spring break", it was exactly what we all needed. I'm also happy to report that I'm 99% positive that I'm going to be spending the month of April there doing my last and final reserch project, studying prostitution, sex trafficking and their relationship with tourism in Cameroon with an organization, WOPA (Women's Promotion and Assistance Association http://www.wopassociation.org/index.html). I met with the director, Veronique, and in talking with her I feel confident that my ISP (independent study project) now has a direction.
While in Kribi, we also got to meet with some indigenous camps of pygmies, some of the earliest inhabitants of Cameroon. It was really interesting to talk (through the aid of a translator) with these families as they still hunt and gather their food and they're one of the only ethnic groups who have a more equal relationship between genders. At the second camp we visited, I asked a question about widowhood rites and whether or not they re-marry and the Chief who is currently wife-less said he was in the process of looking for a wife and he would like me to stay and be his wife. Hahahaha. I almost died, all the women in the family started jumping up and down and pointing at me laughing and all my friends here have claimed spots as bridesmaids in our wedding. Catherine, you can come and be my maid of honor, I'm sure the rugby player will be thrilled. So, sorry friends and family, looks like I'll be the staying in Cameroon.
Hope you're all doing well, miss everyone immensely but am having the time of my life.
A Bientot,
Courtney
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Skyline in Cameroon
Bonjour tout le monde,
I hope that you all are having a great start to spring. I heard that it's at least warming up a little bit in the Cincy area. I, on the otherhand, am too warm here in Yaounde... words I didn't think I'd be saying coming from an Ohio winter. But it is at least 85-90+ degrees most days and everyday I get a little more sunburned which is gradually transforming my skin from red to tan. I definitely woulnd't trade to be back in Ohio, but I have gained a nice appreciation for the four seasons we have in the midwest.
This week has been filled with lots of random things, including many organization visits around the city. In the past five days we've visited the U.S. Embassy and learned about the foreign service, the Peace Corps, an environmental-development organization, a few microfinance organizations, and we started this week by attending the much anticipated International Women's Day parade which is a huge deal here. Everyone buys the same fabric in different colors and then gets dresses and outfits made for the parade. It was fun for me too because my host mom decided to celebrate and not go to work so I got to spend some more time with her, eating popcorn and watching Spanish soap operas until the electricity went out because of a huge storm. When that happened we lit the candle I gave my family as a homestay gift and listened to Cameroonian music on speakerphone from her cell phone. On Friday I got a phone call from my Cameroonian rugby friends and they told me they had a game on Saturday so I invited a bunch of my SIT friends and made an event out of it. None of my friends had ever been to a game so I attempted to explain the rules while trying to understand how these guys were playing on the hard dirt ground. It was a really fun afternoon and I even got a jersey out of it, holla. Then on Sunday my older host brother took me to 2 soccer games at the big stadium and I spent about 4 hours watching those games and eating random Cameroonian snacks. All in all a wonderful and relaxing weekend.
I also have had some fun culinary experiences. I made a Cincinnati chili feast for my friends on Thursday from the Skyline packets I brought from home. I wanted to try it out on my friends before making it for my host families just in case it failed miserably. So 5 of my friends enjoyed Skyline 4-ways which surprisingly turned out really well, despite the fact I was cooking in a kitchen in Cameroon. Wish me luck because I'm planning on making the same meal for my fam tomorrow night. I almost died last night eating fish with the tiniest and sharpest bones I've ever encountered but I'm still kickin it...I have decided though that if I am going to die in Cameroon it's going to be from choking on a fish bone. And then finally I came home on Saturday to two live chickens in our yard which turned into a wonderful chicken stew for dinner last night. My Maman was cracking up at the fact that I asked if she killed the chickens herself, which she did. Cameroonians are intense.
And finally, to end this long post, I have been waking up this past week to the sound of bells which I think are coming from one of the nearby churches. However the bells sound exactlyyyy like the bell from camp and therefore I've been waking up really confused at where I am and whether or not I need to go jump in the lake. The bells, added on to the fact that I've been having some dreams in French and crazy nightmares, make for some tres discombobulated mornings. And for Tracy, who loves my Wheat Freet updates, I found out the Wheat Freet is actually my parents' grandson! Cameroonian families are all over the place and I'm still working out all the relationships, but I thought that it was pretty funny to only find that out now, 7 weeks into my experience here.
Okay that's all for now, off to the World Bank.
All my best from over here,
Blanch-ney ... my new favorite name from my neighbor Linda, a mix between white girl and Courtney.
I hope that you all are having a great start to spring. I heard that it's at least warming up a little bit in the Cincy area. I, on the otherhand, am too warm here in Yaounde... words I didn't think I'd be saying coming from an Ohio winter. But it is at least 85-90+ degrees most days and everyday I get a little more sunburned which is gradually transforming my skin from red to tan. I definitely woulnd't trade to be back in Ohio, but I have gained a nice appreciation for the four seasons we have in the midwest.
This week has been filled with lots of random things, including many organization visits around the city. In the past five days we've visited the U.S. Embassy and learned about the foreign service, the Peace Corps, an environmental-development organization, a few microfinance organizations, and we started this week by attending the much anticipated International Women's Day parade which is a huge deal here. Everyone buys the same fabric in different colors and then gets dresses and outfits made for the parade. It was fun for me too because my host mom decided to celebrate and not go to work so I got to spend some more time with her, eating popcorn and watching Spanish soap operas until the electricity went out because of a huge storm. When that happened we lit the candle I gave my family as a homestay gift and listened to Cameroonian music on speakerphone from her cell phone. On Friday I got a phone call from my Cameroonian rugby friends and they told me they had a game on Saturday so I invited a bunch of my SIT friends and made an event out of it. None of my friends had ever been to a game so I attempted to explain the rules while trying to understand how these guys were playing on the hard dirt ground. It was a really fun afternoon and I even got a jersey out of it, holla. Then on Sunday my older host brother took me to 2 soccer games at the big stadium and I spent about 4 hours watching those games and eating random Cameroonian snacks. All in all a wonderful and relaxing weekend.
I also have had some fun culinary experiences. I made a Cincinnati chili feast for my friends on Thursday from the Skyline packets I brought from home. I wanted to try it out on my friends before making it for my host families just in case it failed miserably. So 5 of my friends enjoyed Skyline 4-ways which surprisingly turned out really well, despite the fact I was cooking in a kitchen in Cameroon. Wish me luck because I'm planning on making the same meal for my fam tomorrow night. I almost died last night eating fish with the tiniest and sharpest bones I've ever encountered but I'm still kickin it...I have decided though that if I am going to die in Cameroon it's going to be from choking on a fish bone. And then finally I came home on Saturday to two live chickens in our yard which turned into a wonderful chicken stew for dinner last night. My Maman was cracking up at the fact that I asked if she killed the chickens herself, which she did. Cameroonians are intense.
And finally, to end this long post, I have been waking up this past week to the sound of bells which I think are coming from one of the nearby churches. However the bells sound exactlyyyy like the bell from camp and therefore I've been waking up really confused at where I am and whether or not I need to go jump in the lake. The bells, added on to the fact that I've been having some dreams in French and crazy nightmares, make for some tres discombobulated mornings. And for Tracy, who loves my Wheat Freet updates, I found out the Wheat Freet is actually my parents' grandson! Cameroonian families are all over the place and I'm still working out all the relationships, but I thought that it was pretty funny to only find that out now, 7 weeks into my experience here.
Okay that's all for now, off to the World Bank.
All my best from over here,
Blanch-ney ... my new favorite name from my neighbor Linda, a mix between white girl and Courtney.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Is it seriously March?
*I edited this post a bit, much to my frustration knowing that my overly-worried parents are sometimes right, but my academic director advised the group that it's probably not wise to write about political things on our blogs, facebooks, etc. so I'll share all those funs thoughts and stories once I'm home.
So, the end of my time in Dschang snuck up on me and everyone else in the program; a lot of my friends are planning on returning and so my goodbye felt a little more final. I bid adieu to the hole in the ground bathroom, bucket shower, seven siblings, maman, papa, chicken alarm clock, and beautiful scenery however I have a feeling that it will not be my last time experiencing any of those things while in Macaroon (Elizabeth's prefered way of referencing Cameroon).
We left Friday morning on the ginorm bus, all of our stuff strapped to the top and headed to Bamenda town for the weekend, one of the 2 English speaking provinces in Cameroon. While there, we had the amazing opportunity of meeting with John Fru Ndi, the leader of the biggest opposition party in Cameroon. John Fru Ndi maybe won the presidential election in 1992, but Biya is still kickin' it in office. Fru Ndi is the head of the Social Democratic Front and was kind enough to invite us to his house and answer our questions. We also were offered fresh honey from his hives which he claims have medicinal qualities so, awesome. I'm hoping it will stave off the malaria considering my mosquito net zipper is on the fritz. The next day my friend Phoebe and I explored the town and looked for some friends, 'once-removed'. My professor at Denison, Dr. Susan Diduk, has done most of her research in Bamenda and has many friends here so Pheobe and I spent the majority of the afternoon looking for them. In our search we met a "prince" (or so he said) who was actually very nice and helped us find the taxi park we were looking for. I was able to give one of the drivers a note and 200 francs (about 50 cents) to deliver to Dr. Diduk's friend and later that night was surprised by a phone call from her friend! I was amazed that the note was actually delivered and I was able to have a very pleasant conversation; I think it really shows the genorisity and hospitality of the Cameroonian people. After our search of friends, Phoebe and I ate a leisurly lunch at "Friendship Restaurant" (appropriate) and then took a taxi to the top of this giant hill that overlooks all of Bamenda. It was a fabulous day that ended with a thunderstorm and a wonderful phone call with Ginny Krone. I'm now back in Yaounde and was welcomed last night by my host family with cookies and relaxation.
Things are really looking up here as I'm making contacts for my final month long research and really getting the hang of Cameroonian ways of life. Please keep my friend Julie in mind as she's currently studying with SIT in Chile; she's safe but I'm sure she and her family could all use some extra thoughts sent their way.
More updates to come.
Happy March,
Courtney
So, the end of my time in Dschang snuck up on me and everyone else in the program; a lot of my friends are planning on returning and so my goodbye felt a little more final. I bid adieu to the hole in the ground bathroom, bucket shower, seven siblings, maman, papa, chicken alarm clock, and beautiful scenery however I have a feeling that it will not be my last time experiencing any of those things while in Macaroon (Elizabeth's prefered way of referencing Cameroon).
We left Friday morning on the ginorm bus, all of our stuff strapped to the top and headed to Bamenda town for the weekend, one of the 2 English speaking provinces in Cameroon. While there, we had the amazing opportunity of meeting with John Fru Ndi, the leader of the biggest opposition party in Cameroon. John Fru Ndi maybe won the presidential election in 1992, but Biya is still kickin' it in office. Fru Ndi is the head of the Social Democratic Front and was kind enough to invite us to his house and answer our questions. We also were offered fresh honey from his hives which he claims have medicinal qualities so, awesome. I'm hoping it will stave off the malaria considering my mosquito net zipper is on the fritz. The next day my friend Phoebe and I explored the town and looked for some friends, 'once-removed'. My professor at Denison, Dr. Susan Diduk, has done most of her research in Bamenda and has many friends here so Pheobe and I spent the majority of the afternoon looking for them. In our search we met a "prince" (or so he said) who was actually very nice and helped us find the taxi park we were looking for. I was able to give one of the drivers a note and 200 francs (about 50 cents) to deliver to Dr. Diduk's friend and later that night was surprised by a phone call from her friend! I was amazed that the note was actually delivered and I was able to have a very pleasant conversation; I think it really shows the genorisity and hospitality of the Cameroonian people. After our search of friends, Phoebe and I ate a leisurly lunch at "Friendship Restaurant" (appropriate) and then took a taxi to the top of this giant hill that overlooks all of Bamenda. It was a fabulous day that ended with a thunderstorm and a wonderful phone call with Ginny Krone. I'm now back in Yaounde and was welcomed last night by my host family with cookies and relaxation.
Things are really looking up here as I'm making contacts for my final month long research and really getting the hang of Cameroonian ways of life. Please keep my friend Julie in mind as she's currently studying with SIT in Chile; she's safe but I'm sure she and her family could all use some extra thoughts sent their way.
More updates to come.
Happy March,
Courtney
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